The Great Philosophers:Pascal
Pascal
Published on 14. September 2011
80 pages
978-1-78022-164-9 (ISBN)
Description
Pascal 1623-1662
The moralist who advocated dressing up, the ascetic who liked a flutter, the devout Christian who lauded vanity, Pascal is a funnier, more ironic philosopher than his reputation as an anguished existentialist would suggest.
Yet however irreverent the terms of his ironic project, its underlying impetus is both serious and profound. In this superb new introduction to the thinker and his thought, Ben Rogers demonstrates the deep wisdom of Pascal's defence of popular folly - a defence which he used to highlight the higher delusions of the learned.
Setting the Pensees in the context of Pascal's life and philosophical career, Rogers reveals how their apparent frivolity underpins a fascinating, far-reaching and still challenging body of moral and political thought. His remarkable guide offers an eye-opening account of the work of a marvellous and much neglected thinker.
The moralist who advocated dressing up, the ascetic who liked a flutter, the devout Christian who lauded vanity, Pascal is a funnier, more ironic philosopher than his reputation as an anguished existentialist would suggest.
Yet however irreverent the terms of his ironic project, its underlying impetus is both serious and profound. In this superb new introduction to the thinker and his thought, Ben Rogers demonstrates the deep wisdom of Pascal's defence of popular folly - a defence which he used to highlight the higher delusions of the learned.
Setting the Pensees in the context of Pascal's life and philosophical career, Rogers reveals how their apparent frivolity underpins a fascinating, far-reaching and still challenging body of moral and political thought. His remarkable guide offers an eye-opening account of the work of a marvellous and much neglected thinker.
More details
Series
Edition
Digital original
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Orion Publishing Co
Edition type
Digital original
File size
0,17 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-78022-164-9 (9781780221649)
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Person
Ben Rogers wrote his doctoral thesis at Oxford on seventeenth-century moral and political thought, and also has an MA from Columbia University, New York. He has produced programmes on philosophy for BBC Radio 3 and writes regularly for the Independent, the Independent on Sunday and other newspapers. He is the author of PASCAL: In Praise of Vanity in the 'Great Philosophers' series. He lives in London.
